The Mysterious Disappearance of the Marquise of Loria

All of a sudden, Blanca Arias has it all. The daughter of middling Nicaraguan diplomats posted to Madrid, she marries, at the age of 19, the equally young and passionate Marquess of Loria, her darling Paquito, heir to one of the largest fortunes (and most august titles) in Spain. Paquito, as if on cue, dies of diphtheria, leaving his young widowed Marquise alone, free, and inconceivably rich.
As exuberant as it is explicit―and elegantly translated into English for the first time by Megan McDowell―The Mysterious Disappearance of the Marquise of Loria―shows the Boom-era master Donoso in a lighter mode, and the result is irresistible.